Dell’Oro Group’s RAN 2030 Advanced Research Report hints at long-term growth in the RAN market, suggesting investments could surpass $40 billion by 2030. Despite challenges like short-term boosts due to new technologies, infrastructural opportunities in Fixed Wireless Access and private networks might augment growth. The report also anticipates macro RAN deployments leading the 6G era. However, the analysis remains mindful of potential obstacles clouding this optimistic outlook.
Stepping into the spotlight, Ericsson unveils a software toolkit aimed at enhancing 5G connectivity services. Harnessing fresh algorithms to optimize performance, modifying RAN slicing for faster service, and promising superior low-latency capabilities, this toolkit is a game-changer. Despite the off-pulse struggle to unlock 5G potential, this toolkit is deemed as a catalyst for transitioning from ‘best-effort’ broadband to premium experience. Yet, the question remains: Will consumers bite? In this backdrop, Network X, a collaboration with the wireline and cloud industries, promises insightful stories and strategies, marking a critical date for telecom enthusiasts.
Amid growing inflation and swelling telecom budgets, the advent of 6G brings in costly implications tied to Radio Access Network (RAN) equipment. As these financial implications loom, The Next Generation Mobile Network (NGMN) Alliance proposes a different approach to 6G implementation that may spare existing 5G infrastructure from unnecessary renewal. They advocate an operator-driven decision process in refreshing the 5G RAN, maintaining that 6G upgrade should not compromise 5G user experience and should be software-upgradable on existing network elements. As 5G capex reaches its peak in markets like the U.S., NGMN’s stance could potentially redefine traditional strategies in introducing new generations of mobile technology.
In a recently revealed Q2 report, Nokia showed flat sales at €5.7 billion year over year, suggesting reduced capital expenditure by operators. Interestingly, while a 5% sales growth in Nokia’s Mobile Networks unit occurred, a troubling 6% decline at the Network Infrastructure division offset this boost. With stark contrasts across regions, North American sales notably dropped by 42% as 5G deployments slowed, while energetic 5G deployments in India couldn’t adequately balance the losses. Mirroring these figures, Ericsson too reported a 9% year over year decrease in Q2 revenue. A gloomy yet realistic outlook from Nokia’s CEO Pekka Lundmark, coupled with analyst firm Dell’Oro’s forecast on the shrinking RAN predictions, suggests telecommunications could be in for a turbulent few years.
Despite robust projections for 5G growth, the radio access network (RAN) equipment market experiences a downturn, according to Dell’Oro Group. A typical industry cycle shows that after the booming initial rollout of new mobile tech, stagnation follows as operators complete their spending cycles. However, 5G RAN could still expand by 20%-30% by 2027, failing to offset decreasing LTE investments. As telecom industry anticipates the inception of 6G, dwindling subscriber growth and restrained capital expenditures, due to economic considerations, are putting pressure on the market.
Red Hat, a provider of open source solutions, has announced a partnership with NEC Corporation to deliver 5G solutions built on Red Hat OpenShift, the industry’s leading enterprise Kubernetes platform. With this partnership, NEC will be able to deliver its next-generation suite of core capabilities to the OpenShift platform. The NEC 5G core network solutions operating on Red Hat OpenShift will allow organizations to leverage 5G in many applications, including the 5G core, 5G radio access networks (RANs), edge computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and more, creating new income opportunities. This cloud-native network function (CNF) infrastructure will offer service providers a common telecommunications cloud infrastructure for a variety of use cases, helping to reduce management and operational costs. Service providers will also be able to reap the benefits of using an open, horizontal platform that can reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) by 30%, according to an ACG…
